Explanation:
Last month, humanity bounced a robot off an asteroid.
The main reason was to collect a surface sample.
Despite concern over finding a
safely reboundable touchdown spot,
Japan's robotic
Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully
touched down -- and bounced right back from -- asteroid Ryugu.
Before impact, Hayabusa2 fired a small bullet into
162173 Ryugu
to scattered surface material and increase the chance that
Hayabusa2 would be able to capture some.
Next month,
Hayabusa2 will fire a much larger bullet into
Ryugu in an effort to capture sub-surface material.
Near the end of this year, Hayabusa2 is scheduled to depart
Ryugu and begin a looping trip back to Earth,
hopefully returning small pieces of this
near-Earth asteroid in late 2020.
Studying Ryugu could
tell humanity
not only about the
minor planet's surface and interior,
but about what materials were available in the early
Solar System for the
development of life.